Moving XP and all Apps to a new PC
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I've just built a very nice new MicroATX PC for my wife and want to move her WinXP and all apps+licenses+data to the new PC. Both PC's are on a LAN and I can also move her hard drive to the new PC if need be. For XP I understand I have to Activate the license on the new PC and stop using the old one, which isn't an issue as I'm turning her old PC int a NAS Box. I also undertand I may need to call MS re. Activation. So next is the apps. Is there any easy (automated) way to move them, or do I just reinstall and copy all data?
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
XP has a wizard that you run on the old box and it will grab all the email/documents that it knows about (like OE data files), so you can copy them to the new box. As for the apps, I'd just reinstall; I've always found that it takes far, far longer to be clever and try to move the apps over w/o reinstalling.
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I've just built a very nice new MicroATX PC for my wife and want to move her WinXP and all apps+licenses+data to the new PC. Both PC's are on a LAN and I can also move her hard drive to the new PC if need be. For XP I understand I have to Activate the license on the new PC and stop using the old one, which isn't an issue as I'm turning her old PC int a NAS Box. I also undertand I may need to call MS re. Activation. So next is the apps. Is there any easy (automated) way to move them, or do I just reinstall and copy all data?
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
I'd reinstall XP on the new system. Windows has a wizard to assist with transferring settings... File and Settings Transfer Wizard This will help move over a number of settings including favorites and mail settings (not sure about the actual pst file). Look in Windows Help under "Transfer Settings" Hope this helps. David
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Acronis True Image will let you clone a disc. I've never used this feature but I think it's what you need. You can get a trial version if you don't want to buy it. But honestly, you've got a nice new machine, why would you want to put a crufty old installation of Windows on it instead of clean one :-)
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Thanks. I was already leaning in the direction of a clean install. My wife only uses a handfull of apps, so it shouldn't take to long. Starting off with a clean slate certainly has a lot going for it. I've got Vista running on it right now and had never seen it live in the flesh before Saturday. I'm writing a menu review, but overall I like it.
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
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I've just built a very nice new MicroATX PC for my wife and want to move her WinXP and all apps+licenses+data to the new PC. Both PC's are on a LAN and I can also move her hard drive to the new PC if need be. For XP I understand I have to Activate the license on the new PC and stop using the old one, which isn't an issue as I'm turning her old PC int a NAS Box. I also undertand I may need to call MS re. Activation. So next is the apps. Is there any easy (automated) way to move them, or do I just reinstall and copy all data?
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
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I've just built a very nice new MicroATX PC for my wife and want to move her WinXP and all apps+licenses+data to the new PC. Both PC's are on a LAN and I can also move her hard drive to the new PC if need be. For XP I understand I have to Activate the license on the new PC and stop using the old one, which isn't an issue as I'm turning her old PC int a NAS Box. I also undertand I may need to call MS re. Activation. So next is the apps. Is there any easy (automated) way to move them, or do I just reinstall and copy all data?
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
I would reinstall. In this situation, I would only clone the hard drive if the new machine had the exact same configuration as the old one (rare outside of a datacenter), and even then you'd need to be careful to change the computer name and possibly some other settings before connecting to your home network if you have one. To make the reinstall easier, you should know that InstallPad is your friend: http://www.installpad.com/ Jacob
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I've just built a very nice new MicroATX PC for my wife and want to move her WinXP and all apps+licenses+data to the new PC. Both PC's are on a LAN and I can also move her hard drive to the new PC if need be. For XP I understand I have to Activate the license on the new PC and stop using the old one, which isn't an issue as I'm turning her old PC int a NAS Box. I also undertand I may need to call MS re. Activation. So next is the apps. Is there any easy (automated) way to move them, or do I just reinstall and copy all data?
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
If the new PC has a different brand/model motherboard, the best advice I can give is to reinstall XP from scratch. If your copy of XP came with another machine, chances are it's an "OEM" copy. If it's an OEM copy, you can't transfer it to another machine. However, if you called for e\reactivation and told them the machine it was originally on got fried somehow, they may give you an activation key for the new machine.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
I've just built a very nice new MicroATX PC for my wife and want to move her WinXP and all apps+licenses+data to the new PC. Both PC's are on a LAN and I can also move her hard drive to the new PC if need be. For XP I understand I have to Activate the license on the new PC and stop using the old one, which isn't an issue as I'm turning her old PC int a NAS Box. I also undertand I may need to call MS re. Activation. So next is the apps. Is there any easy (automated) way to move them, or do I just reinstall and copy all data?
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
A clean install is really your only option. By only option, I mean clean, "problem-free (almost)" option. I just changed motherboards from a nforce chipset (that died) to the new ATI chipset. I tried to swap the motherboards and see what would happen. The computer kept rebooting because of the different chipset. I just wanted to get my files off the C: drive and move them to D: before formatting. Even though I back up often, it's not often enough. So, I tried to "fix" Windows by booting from the CD and doing a repair installation. It took over 7 hours!!! My guess is that the chipset difference was the problem. After finally moving my files over to the new drive, I did a clean install. The computer is flying now. No problems (so far) :) My advice is to backup all your important files, and just do a clean install. You'll be happier in the end.
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I've just built a very nice new MicroATX PC for my wife and want to move her WinXP and all apps+licenses+data to the new PC. Both PC's are on a LAN and I can also move her hard drive to the new PC if need be. For XP I understand I have to Activate the license on the new PC and stop using the old one, which isn't an issue as I'm turning her old PC int a NAS Box. I also undertand I may need to call MS re. Activation. So next is the apps. Is there any easy (automated) way to move them, or do I just reinstall and copy all data?
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
I will add a vote for a clean install and then use Laplink's PCMover. After using it successfully to move my own stuff to a new machine I used it on about a half dozen client's machines. The ~$60 licence cost was less than the labour cost of me doing it manually. It's not perfect (you will probably have to reinstall CD burning software, for instance) but it's very good. I am a software developer so my machine had a LOT of apps. OTOH this DOES represent an opportunity to start with a clean slate and not transfer all of the things that you have accumulated and never really use so if you only use a few programs bite the bullet and start over. Garry (27yrs of PC experience)
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If the new PC has a different brand/model motherboard, the best advice I can give is to reinstall XP from scratch. If your copy of XP came with another machine, chances are it's an "OEM" copy. If it's an OEM copy, you can't transfer it to another machine. However, if you called for e\reactivation and told them the machine it was originally on got fried somehow, they may give you an activation key for the new machine.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001Thanks John. Yes it is an OEM vesion. This is pretty annoying as the old PC is being decommissioned and I don't want to waiste money on XP when Vista is close. Hopefully the fried line will work.
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
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A clean install is really your only option. By only option, I mean clean, "problem-free (almost)" option. I just changed motherboards from a nforce chipset (that died) to the new ATI chipset. I tried to swap the motherboards and see what would happen. The computer kept rebooting because of the different chipset. I just wanted to get my files off the C: drive and move them to D: before formatting. Even though I back up often, it's not often enough. So, I tried to "fix" Windows by booting from the CD and doing a repair installation. It took over 7 hours!!! My guess is that the chipset difference was the problem. After finally moving my files over to the new drive, I did a clean install. The computer is flying now. No problems (so far) :) My advice is to backup all your important files, and just do a clean install. You'll be happier in the end.
ednrgc wrote:
My advice is to backup all your important files, and just do a clean install. You'll be happier in the end.
Thanks. That's the plan now.
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
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I've just built a very nice new MicroATX PC for my wife and want to move her WinXP and all apps+licenses+data to the new PC. Both PC's are on a LAN and I can also move her hard drive to the new PC if need be. For XP I understand I have to Activate the license on the new PC and stop using the old one, which isn't an issue as I'm turning her old PC int a NAS Box. I also undertand I may need to call MS re. Activation. So next is the apps. Is there any easy (automated) way to move them, or do I just reinstall and copy all data?
Neville Franks, Author of Surfulater www.surfulater.com "Save what you Surf" and ED for Windows www.getsoft.com
you might try: How to use the Sysprep tool to automate successful deployment of Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302577/